The Laws of Mezuzah Part 2 - Rabbi Eyal Peled shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Hello and welcome. Today we’ll talk about the laws of mezuzah and some more details concerning the shape of a doorway. When does a doorway require a mezuzah? When doesn’t it? When is there a dispute? What is a matter of hiddur, and what is required by law? So let’s get straight to it. These situations come up quite often, but for there to be an obligation, I need, as we said, the two doorposts and the lintel above them. That gives me the shape of the letter ches, the shape of a doorway. I put up a mezuzah in the best manner, and all is well. But sometimes there’s a doorpost on one side, while on the other side the wall continues on. There’s a wall that keeps going. There’s a projection from the wall here that counts as a doorpost—we’ll discuss that later—but on the other side the wall continues. So it depends: If the existing doorpost is on the right and it’s only on the left that the wall continues, then according to the Rosh, such a doorway requires a mezuzah. But there’s a dispute about this, because the Rambam disagrees. So with this kind of opening, we put a mezuzah on the right-hand doorpost, but without a bracha. Because of the dispute, we put it up without a bracha. That’s one situation. The second is the reverse: The doorpost is on the left, and on the right there’s a continuation of the wall. In that case, it’s exempt. Strictly speaking, it’s exempt from a mezuzah. But, as we’ve already mentioned, there’s a hiddur to put up a mezuzah in every situation. At the time, this was also said in the name of—it was an instruction from Rabbi Ashkenazi, a"h—to put up mezuzos in every case, even when it’s exempt. For the sake of protection, as we said, the protection

02:32 Speaker 2 of the mezuzah is important to us, so we put up mezuzos in every situation. So even when the doorpost is only on the left and the wall continues on the right, we’ll still put up a mezuzah, without a bracha, of course. Some have suggested building a doorpost in such a case. As we’ll see later, a doorpost doesn’t actually have to meet a minimum size; it doesn’t need to be wide or thick or anything like that. Even something very narrow counts as a doorpost. So some have suggested that if I have a wall that continues on the right, I could attach a narrow strip opposite the doorpost that ends here. That strip would be a doorpost, and then I’d have one on the right as well. First of all, from what I’ve seen, some argue—if I’m not mistaken, I think it’s one of the poskim, perhaps Gur Be’ohalo[?] or something like that; they discuss the opposite situation—that if you build a doorpost, you’re showing that this part isn’t a doorpost, since you built one here. What are you saying? That this is a doorpost and this is just a wall. So according to that, you haven’t gained much. But even if I do build a doorpost, it has to be in a situation where the ceiling above doesn’t continue on, because if it does, I don’t have a lintel. In any event, I put a mezuzah there without a bracha, of course. On the other hand, there’s another situation called “the ends of walls.” That’s what it’s called in halachic language. This is

04:31 Speaker 2 the issue of the ends of walls. In the Gemara, it’s called pischa de’akarnah. What exactly does that mean? When we spoke about the ches-shaped doorway, it doesn’t have to be a frame that I build—which is what I usually do when I want to install a door. I build a frame in the shape of a ches out of wood, aluminum, or something similar, attach the door hinges to it, and install the door. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The doorposts can also be part of the wall itself. In other words, if projections from the wall itself form the shape of a ches, that’s fine too. Say I have a wall on the right and a wall on the left, and they turn to the sides, forming a ches with a lintel above. That, too, counts as a doorway in every respect and requires a mezuzah—of course, if there’s a door. We’ll get to that later; we’ll discuss the door as well. But such an opening requires a mezuzah. Sometimes, though, the walls run straight and don’t turn to the sides. They just end there. I have the end of a wall on the right and the end of a wall on the left. This is called “the ends of walls.” This situation is also disputed. According to the Rosh, it requires a mezuzah; according to the Rambam, it doesn’t. So when I have a doorway shaped like this, I put a mezuzah on the right-hand wall without a bracha, to take the Rambam’s view into account as well. That’s what “the ends of walls” means; that’s the issue. But again, all this assumes that the ceiling ends there too. Some even require a lowered section of ceiling for it to count as a lintel. After all, I have these walls, these ends

06:30 Speaker 2 of walls, but what’s happening above? Where’s the lintel? If the ceiling continues on, it isn’t a lintel. If the ceiling ends here and there’s also a lowered section, that lowered section counts as a lintel according to everyone. But if the ceiling simply ends above these walls without a lowered section, some say that isn’t called a lintel. In practice, though, we do take into account the possibility that it is a lintel, and we do affix a mezuzah—as we said, without a bracha, because of the dispute concerning the ends of walls. I’d say there’s also a way to address that here. When the ceiling ends here, I can simply add a lintel. A lintel doesn’t have to be a particular thickness or length either. Even a small strip placed under the ceiling creates a lintel, and then the opening requires a mezuzah according to everyone. That works too. So when we speak about the ends of walls, we mean walls that end, one on the right and one on the left. But there are situations where those walls turn to the sides. In other words, the wall doesn’t end here; it turns sideways. The wall of the room is here, and then the wall continues into another room. The same thing happens with this wall: it reaches this point and turns sideways. Some say that in such a case there’s no obligation to put up a mezuzah. A wall that turns sideways doesn’t count as a doorpost; it goes off to the side. There’s no end here, nothing I can define as a doorpost. So there are opinions that exempt an opening where the walls turn to the sides on both the right and the left from a mezuzah. That’s what Chovas Hadar suggests. But other poskim maintain that there is an obligation here too. And as

08:30 Speaker 2 we said, a mezuzah in this kind of situation is subject to the dispute between the Rosh and the Rambam, so in practice we put up a mezuzah there. Even when the wall turns to the sides, we put up a mezuzah without a bracha. But there are certain situations where that passageway, so to speak, is formed incidentally. Because I have a room here and a room here, something resembling a doorway is formed between the two rooms. That is exempt from a mezuzah. Why? Because the walls weren’t made for this space; they were made for the space here, for this room. This wall was made for the space of that room. They weren’t built for this passageway, so I can’t treat them as doorposts. This can come up a lot at entrances to homes where there are gardens on both sides: a fence is built here and another fence there, and together they form something like a doorway. That doorway doesn’t require a mezuzah because it wasn’t built to serve as a doorway. It wasn’t built for this space, so strictly speaking, I don’t have to put up a mezuzah there. Another point—we’ve already touched on passageways, but I’d prefer to leave a more detailed discussion of them for later. So first, we’ve spoken about doorways formed by the ends of walls that turn to the sides, or walls that weren’t made for this opening. We said that if they weren’t made for this space, it doesn’t have the status of a doorway and doesn’t require a mezuzah. But if I nevertheless built some sort of doorway there, even though the walls weren’t made for this space—if I built even a lintel, put up

10:39 Speaker 2 If I put some kind of lintel there, lowering the opening below the ceiling, I’ve shown that I do consider it a doorway, and I would then be obligated to put up a mezuzah. But as long as it remains as it is, with the opening formed incidentally, there is no obligation to put up a mezuzah. Only if I install a lintel there will I create that obligation. There is another situation called “a doorway formed from the side.” What does that mean? When we spoke about the doorposts of a doorway, we meant two doorposts with a lintel above them. Sometimes the lintel does not rest on the doorposts—it stands alongside them, behind them or in front of them, but does not rest on them. You might find this at the entrances to parking lots and the like. That is called a doorway formed from the side. In the laws of eruvin, we learn that this does not have the status of a doorway. So according to most opinions, a lintel positioned to the side does not create an obligation to put up a mezuzah. But some hold that a mezuzah is required nonetheless. Therefore, when the lintel is not above the doorposts but to the side, I put up a mezuzah without a brachah, to satisfy all opinions. That covers a doorway formed from the side. There is another very common situation. We’re talking about doorways and doorposts: sometimes the posts were not made to form an entrance. They were built either for decoration or

12:47 Speaker 2 to support the ceiling. This is already mentioned in the Gemara, which describes a portico with columns that appear to form a doorway. The Gemara says, “They were made to support the ceiling.” In other words, I cannot count columns built to support the ceiling—structural supports and the like—as doorposts. You see this often at building entrances. There are columns, and you can plainly see what looks like a doorway, like a lintel across two posts. But we would tell you that no mezuzah is needed there. It is not a doorway at all. Columns made to support a ceiling do not create an obligation to put up a mezuzah. The same applies to an apparent doorway made for decoration. You see all sorts of grand buildings with beautiful, ornate structures shaped like doorways. They were built for decoration. If they were not built to separate one area from another, no mezuzah is required. This can happen inside homes, too. I’ve seen situations where there is suddenly what looks like a doorway inside the house. Why is it there? If it was built for decoration, it does not require a mezuzah. But if it does distinguish between areas—if I say, “This part of the house is where I sit, work and read, and that part is where we put the table,” and so on—then it does create a separation between places with different uses, and I would put up a mezuzah there. But structures that look like doorways and were made simply for decoration or beauty do not require a mezuzah. Here, too, if I take those supporting columns and decide to build something attractive around them to make an entrance—I intend it to be a doorway

14:38 Speaker 2 a beautiful entrance to the building—then I would be obligated to put up a mezuzah there as well. But as long as the columns are there for support, to reinforce the structure, I would not be obligated to put up a mezuzah. There is no obligation there. If, however, the doorposts were made to form an entrance and only the lintel was made to support the ceiling—that happens too; anyone familiar with construction knows that sometimes you have ordinary walls or posts, but the lintel is a structural support—then the Shevet HaLevi holds that a mezuzah is required. In that case, there is an obligation to put one up. Perhaps a few more examples of doorway-like structures that do not require a mezuzah: eruv poles around a city do not require mezuzahs. Although they form the shape of a doorway, they are not an entrance. I need an opening intended for entering and exiting. Eruv poles form the shape of a doorway, but they are not an entrance, so they are exempt. Sometimes there is a metal-detector gate. That, too, does not require a mezuzah; it was not made as an entrance. There can also be a doorway-like structure made of tree branches. Some places put a great deal of effort into their landscaping and appearance, and you might come across an entrance to a building or something similar formed from a tree or a climbing plant. It has been trimmed into an attractive shape so that it looks like a doorway. In such a case, some indeed say to put up a mezuzah without a brachah; that is what the Minchas Yitzchak writes. On the other hand, the Shevet HaLevi says no mezuzah is needed. But at first glance, why should it make a difference? Why should it matter that it is made of plants, branches and trees? Why shouldn’t we put up a mezuzah there? Perhaps even with a brachah. So a mezuzah

16:45 Speaker 2 should certainly be put up. We can forgo the brachah, but a mezuzah should certainly be put up. Another very important principle when discussing the obligation to put up a mezuzah at a doorway: according to the Rambam, an opening without a door does not require a mezuzah. It is worth knowing how the Rambam approaches this. In the laws of mezuzah, the Rambam sets out ten conditions a house must meet to require a mezuzah. When I speak about this, a doorway alone is not enough. Fundamentally, the obligation of mezuzah applies to a house, and for something to qualify as a house, several conditions must be met. One of those conditions, says the Rambam, is a door. A house without a door is not enough. It needs a door, it needs a roof, it must be intended as a dwelling—there are various details. The walls must reach a height of ten tefachim. If the walls are less than ten tefachim high, it is not considered a house, so there is no obligation to put up a mezuzah. Thus, according to the Rambam, an opening without a door does not require a mezuzah. True, many disagree with him—the Rosh disagrees, and so on. But the Shulchan Aruch does cite this view of the Rambam, at least as a “some say” opinion. Therefore, the Shach writes that if I have an opening without a door, I should put up a mezuzah without a brachah, out of concern for the Rambam’s opinion. That is also a very important rule. It comes up all the time with openings in a house that have no door, in hallways and the like. For these doorless openings, I put up a mezuzah, but I do not make a brachah when affixing it. Whatever kind of opening it is, even one that was never meant to have a door—that makes no difference. If it has no door, I put up a mezuzah without a brachah. So it follows that if I have a glass door,

18:38 Speaker 2 for example, but the glass is broken—which can happen—then I have no door. I can pass through where the glass broke. If I can enter through there, it is as though there is no door, and that is not good enough. I need to make sure there is a door there, with the glass in place and everything in order, so to speak. On the other hand, it does not have to be a particularly strong iron door or anything like that. Even a curtain is sufficient if it is securely fixed and does not flap in the wind. That can also serve as a door. A roll-up shutter can serve as a door, as can a revolving door. And since we’re talking about doors, we understand that when I put up a mezuzah at an entrance, I must first install the door and only then affix the mezuzah. There is a principle that applies to several mitzvos: “You must make it, rather than have it become valid on its own.” I cannot affix a mezuzah while the conditions are invalid and then have it become valid automatically afterward. If I put a mezuzah on an opening without a door—which is invalid according to the Rambam—and only afterward install the door, the mezuzah is already there. There was no act of affixing it under valid conditions. That is not good. So if someone moves into a house and there are no doors yet, they do not put up the mezuzahs for the time being. Only after the doors are installed do they put up the mezuzahs. If I put up a mezuzah before installing the door, I need to remove it and put it up again, without a brachah. But if I am replacing a door, for example, some poskim raise this issue there too. Often a door needs to be taken down and repaired, and so on. There is

20:27 Speaker 2 Some... some halachic authorities write that here too, I need to take down the mezuzah and put it up again. In practice, that isn’t necessary. Someone who replaces a door does not need to remove the mezuzah; this is not considered a case of taaseh velo min he’asuy. It’s fine to leave that mezuzah in place. Now we’ll talk about how an entrance is used, and which kinds of use require a mezuzah. We’ve discussed the structure of an entrance in various situations. The next question is what the entrance is used for. Some uses do not require me to put up a mezuzah. So let’s start here. Sometimes people enter through a window. There can be a situation where a person comes in through a window that opens. Just a week or two ago, someone asked me about entering through a window. If it’s a window I have to jump up to—jump or climb over various things to reach it and get in—then it is exempt. That isn’t considered an entrance, and it is exempt from a mezuzah. But if there is an established way in, it doesn’t have to be especially convenient. Even if, say, there is a high stone I step onto, a sort of step, and from there to the window is less than ten tefachim, then that window requires a mezuzah. The same applies if I have a ladder. Chovas Hadar says that even if the ladder isn’t permanently fixed in place, if it’s a ladder I always use to climb up and enter through the window, that window also requires a mezuzah. If I have an opening made solely for bringing in merchandise or animals—this can happen in factories and various workplaces—then such an opening is exempt from a mezuzah. Sometimes there is a wardrobe

22:32 Speaker 2 with an opening, but we’re talking about a small room: a narrow walk-in closet that I don’t actually enter to get clothes. I reach in and take out one garment here, another there. That, too, is exempt from a mezuzah. It isn’t considered an entrance; it wasn’t made for people to go in and out. A person stands outside, reaches in and takes out clothes. Such a closet is exempt from a mezuzah. Now, when we talk about a temporary partition, sometimes there are rooms—usually in shuls or places like that, though sometimes at home too—that I divide with a partition. It may be a temporary partition, but it is still a partition. If that temporary partition stays there for a set period, if I’m not taking it down all the time but leaving it there for, say, a month, then the opening in that temporary partition also needs a mezuzah. If, on the other hand, it’s a partition I move frequently, there is no obligation to put a mezuzah on its opening. An opening intended only as an exit is, in principle, exempt from a mezuzah. Sometimes a home or workplace has an opening intended only for going out. Or there may be an opening in a courtyard used to take out the garbage and the like. An opening intended only as an exit is exempt from a mezuzah, but it is nevertheless proper to put up a mezuzah there without a brachah. In principle, it is exempt. There are also openings used only occasionally. I’ve encountered a case where someone has a bedroom with two doors to a balcony. He always uses one door to go in and out; in principle, he doesn’t use the other. Only occasionally—say, if he puts up a sukkah there and needs

24:38 Speaker 2 an easier way to get in and so on—does he use that door too. For an opening used only occasionally—meaning more than once a month, according to the gaon, author of HaHalachah[?]—I put up a mezuzah without a brachah. Then there are emergency exits, found in various buildings. Such an opening is exempt from a mezuzah. Sometimes there are openings next to each other, with a post in the middle, dividing the opening in two. The question is whether I need two mezuzahs, one on the opening to the right and one on the opening to the left. Or do I put up just one mezuzah because, seemingly, it is one opening despite the post in the middle? Is it considered two openings requiring two mezuzahs, or one opening requiring one? By the way, we might sometimes tell ourselves, “I’ll put up another mezuzah—what could be wrong with that?” But we need to know that this can lead to a problem of bal tosif. If I put up two mezuzahs on one opening, I run into the prohibition of bal tosif. So it’s important to know whether I need one mezuzah or two. The general rule is this: if the purpose of the post is to divide the opening in two—and first we’ll speak about the general definition—then it depends on its thickness. If the post is a tefach thick, I need two mezuzahs: one for the opening to its right and one for the opening to its left. But if the post is less than a tefach thick, it has no significance in this regard, and it

26:41 Speaker 2 is considered one opening; one mezuzah is enough. If the post isn’t there to divide the opening in two, but is there for other reasons that we’ll discuss shortly, then its thickness makes no difference. In any case, I put up one mezuzah on the right side. That’s when the post isn’t meant to divide the opening in two. Now let’s give some examples of when a post divides openings and when it doesn’t. The Gemara already gives one example. I have a post in the middle and doors on either side of it, making two openings, one to the right of the post and one to its left. If the doors’ hinges are attached to the post, each door opens separately, one this way and one that way. That means the post divides the openings. In that case, I put up two mezuzahs, one for the opening on the right and one for the opening on the left. But if the doors’ hinges are on the outer sides, then when I open the doors, I open them together. These doors open as though they are one set. That means it is really one opening; the post does not divide it in two. When the doors open together like that, with their hinges on the outer sides, they are all considered one opening, and I put up only one mezuzah. Even if one door opens more and the other less, that makes no difference. If both openings are usually opened together, but sometimes, when it’s cold or windy, only one door is opened, it is still considered one opening. The fact that they don’t open together every time is not a problem. Even if sometimes

28:47 Speaker 2 I open this door and sometimes I open the other, that too is considered one opening. I put up just one mezuzah on the right side. But as we said, if the doors’ hinges are attached to the post and each door opens separately—this one opens this way and that one opens the other way—then the opening is divided in two. If the post is a tefach thick, I put up a mezuzah on each opening separately. Another example of a post dividing openings is when each opening leads to a different place. This opening leads to a shul, and that one leads to the street. In that case too, the post is considered to divide the openings, and I put up a mezuzah on each opening separately, provided the post is a tefach thick. Likewise, if the post is intended to conceal a certain part of the house, it divides the openings, and I put up a mezuzah on each one. But if, for example, the post is there only to support the ceiling—the opening is wide, so they placed a post in the middle to stabilize the ceiling—then the post is not considered to divide it into two openings. The post isn’t part of the entrance; it was placed there only to support the ceiling. So it is considered one opening, and I put up just one mezuzah. Sometimes there is a roll-up shutter that is very long, so it is divided into two sections with a post in the middle. But we open both sections together. In that case too, it is considered one opening, and I put up just one mezuzah. If there isn’t

30:43 Speaker 2 Doors. When we’re talking about a post that’s there to support the ceiling, usually, if there are no doors—just an opening with a post in the middle—that post is there to support the ceiling. That means it’s only one opening, and I put up only one mezuzah. There’s another fairly common situation that I’ve encountered a few times. It’s called a gate within a gate: a large gate with a smaller gate built into it. The large gate can open by sliding or in another way, but it has another, smaller gate inside it. So where do I put the mezuzah—on the large gate or the small one? The halachic authorities write as follows. The Tzemach Tzedek also addresses this situation, but the other authorities too—the Yad Haktana, the Aruch Hashulchan—all agree that I put the mezuzah only on the large gate, not the small one. One explanation is that the small gate is merely an opening, as the Yad Haktana calls it—like a hole in the door. A mezuzah doesn’t belong there. The Aruch Hashulchan gives another explanation: a mezuzah isn’t affixed to a door. After all, the small gate is inside the large gate. So if I affix a mezuzah to the small gate, it’s as though I’m affixing a mezuzah to the door. A mezuzah should be affixed to the doorposts in the wall, not to the door. Therefore, in this situation, I put the mezuzah only on the doorposts of the large gate’s doorway, not on those of the small gate. But there is something else that does come up, and I’ve encountered it too, usually with parking gates. You have a parking gate—here’s another example. You have

32:43 Speaker 2 a parking gate that... Sometimes a parking area has a gate for cars to enter, then a post, and beyond it another gate for people to enter. That’s an example of a post dividing two openings. Each gate is meant for a different kind of entry: one for cars, the other for people. So here I need to put up two mezuzahs. But some parking gates open electrically and have another gate built into them. If I want to drive in, I press the remote, the gate rolls open, and I enter. If I’m not coming by car, I can open the small gate and enter through it. The problem is that the large gate for cars has no lintel above it. It’s a single gate with no frame above it. Now the question is: the small gate has a proper doorway, a lintel, everything; the large parking gate has no lintel. What do I do? I’m told not to affix a mezuzah to the small gate, but I can’t affix one to the large gate either—so do I put up no mezuzah at all? There is indeed a serious dispute about this. The Chovas Hadar cites the dispute, but we can draw a conclusion from the wording of the Tzemach Tzedek. The Tzemach Tzedek also discusses this situation in Piskei Dinim. He says that I exempt the small gate from a mezuzah. Why? Because it is exempted by the large gate. That is his wording. In other words, the small gate’s obligation is met by the mezuzah on the large gate, because it is part of the large gate. This is somewhat similar to the Aruch Hashulchan. So

34:40 Speaker 2 in such a situation, I can understand that if a mezuzah cannot be put on the large gate because it does not meet the necessary conditions, then I should put one on the small gate. The small gate is inherently obligated in a mezuzah; it is only exempted by the mezuzah on the large gate. So if a mezuzah cannot be put on the large gate, I will put one on the small gate. In practice, that is indeed what seems right: I put the mezuzah on the small gate, but without a blessing, because there is still room for discussion. So I put a mezuzah there, but without a blessing. Another important thing to pay attention to is the conditions a house must meet. It’s all very well that I have an opening, a proper doorway, and an entrance. But for there to be an obligation, the house itself must meet certain conditions. We mentioned the Rambam’s wording: a house must meet ten conditions before a person is obligated to put a mezuzah there. One of the important conditions we discussed is walls ten tefachim high; that is usually present. We discussed a roof; that is usually present too. By the way, a roof is required only for a structure that is ordinarily used with a roof. If I have a courtyard or balcony that is ordinarily used without a roof, the lack of a roof doesn’t matter. In any event, a house needs a roof, walls ten tefachim high, a door as we said, and it also needs to be a certain size. The minimum size of a house

36:33 Speaker 2 is four amos by four amos. In practical terms, the house needs to measure 1.92 meters by 1.92 meters. That is four amos by four amos, which is sixteen square meters. Once I have that, I’m obligated to put a mezuzah on this house. The question arises with a long, narrow house: when I measure its length, it is four amos or more, but when I measure its width, it is less than four amos—three amos, for example. It doesn’t measure four amos by four amos in length and width, but it is long: more than four amos in length and less than four in width. Yet when I calculate its total area, I do get the area of four by four amos. I do get sixteen square meters, though not with a length of four and a width of four, but through a different calculation. In the end, it does have the area of four by four amos. So am I obligated to put a mezuzah there or not? This is a dispute among the Rishonim. The Rambam says it is obligated; the Rosh holds that it is exempt. In the laws of eruvin, the Alter Rebbe agrees with the Rosh. According to the Alter Rebbe, this is not considered four by four. If I don’t have a length of four and a width of four, it is not considered four by four according to the Alter Rebbe, and such a place would therefore be exempt from a mezuzah according to his view. But it’s important to know a principle stated by the Chamudei Daniel, which the Pischei Teshuvah also cites. He argues that when we say a house without four amos by four amos is exempt, it’s because a house of that size isn’t fit for use.

38:30 Speaker 2 But if I build a room like that—and this can often be a corridor, a laundry room, or something similar—where the normal way to use it is at that small size, and it is built that way, then since it is fit for its intended use, the Chamudei Daniel says, the fact that it doesn’t measure four by four amos doesn’t matter. I will need to put a mezuzah there. Therefore, in practice, we put a mezuzah on a room that does not measure four by four amos. All the more so when the room has the area of four amos by four amos but is not square—not four amos in both length and width—which, as we said, is not considered four by four amos according to the Alter Rebbe. Even there, if it is fit for its intended use and rooms like it are normally used at that small size, we put a mezuzah there. In every case, though, the mezuzah is put up without a blessing. After all, there is a serious dispute here. So we put up a mezuzah to take the view of the Chamudei Daniel into account, but we do not recite a blessing when affixing a mezuzah to a structure of this kind. There is another very important matter: the person living there is the one obligated in mezuzah. In other words, as we know, a fundamental principle of mezuzah is that the obligation falls on the resident. The obligation to affix a mezuzah does not fall on the owners of the apartment; it does not depend on ownership. It depends on who actually lives there. So the tenant who actually lives in the apartment is the one obligated to put up the mezuzah. He is also obligated

40:19 Speaker 2 Yes, all the expenses involved in that. We need to discuss and determine what kind of dwelling actually requires a mezuzah. First of all, an ordinary apartment, of course, requires a mezuzah with a bracha and everything. But there are other kinds of dwellings: some are exempt, some are subject to a dispute, and so on. For example, a shelter does not require a mezuzah. A shelter is not a place where one can live permanently. We need some form of dwelling, some degree of permanence. A shelter is intended only for emergencies and the like, so generally speaking, it is exempt from a mezuzah. But there are other considerations: if things are stored in the shelter, or it is sometimes used—sometimes there is a shul in a shelter, for example. In practice, the custom is to put a mezuzah on a shelter, of course without a bracha, but by the strict letter of the law a shelter is exempt. Another very common and important case is a storage room. In the language of the Gemara and halacha, it is called a beis ha’otzar, a storehouse. A storage room is a place where things are kept, whatever kind of things they may be—even animals. It is intended for storage, not for living. Generally speaking, there is a dispute about a storage room. According to the Rambam, it is exempt from a mezuzah. According to other poskim, a storage room—a beis ha’otzar—requires one. So in practice, we put a mezuzah on a storage room, but without a bracha. In situations like these, when we encounter rooms used to store things and the like, even if people enter them only rarely, we put up a mezuzah without a bracha. But one of the poskim noticed something interesting. Sometimes buildings have an electrical room, what is called a utility room. If we look closely, although it contains various electrical equipment, that equipment

42:46 Speaker 2 is fixed to the walls. So one of the poskim says that because the equipment is fixed to the walls, the room is not considered a storage room. The equipment is part of the wall. The wall has various devices on it, but these are not objects being stored there. In his view, then, such a room is exempt from a mezuzah, and that certainly makes sense. As for a parking space—a place where a car is parked—we spoke about a beis ha’otzar, a storage room. A place where a car is parked is certainly no less than a storage room. If a place where animals are kept is considered a beis ha’otzar and we put a mezuzah there, we also put a mezuzah on a garage. But again, since its obligation is based on its status as a beis ha’otzar, a storage room, and we said that this is disputed, we put up the mezuzah without a bracha. There is another point to bear in mind. Perhaps we will discuss it in more detail later, but in the laws of mezuzah there is a concept called a beis sha’ar, an entranceway. It is essentially a passage that leads to a room—a corridor, a passage, or even a structure that serves as an approach to the entrance of a room or building. Often a garage also serves as a beis sha’ar, if I enter the house through it. We were speaking about a situation where there is a garage entrance and also a doorway through which people enter the house. But if the garage leads me into the house, we call it a beis sha’ar. As a beis sha’ar, it requires a mezuzah. When the Torah says, “On the doorposts of your house and on your gates,” a beis sha’ar is included in “your gates.” So a beis sha’ar requires a mezuzah, even with a bracha. Usually, though, garage entrances do not meet the requirements for the form of a doorway

44:45 Speaker 2 that would allow us to make a bracha. If they do, then fine—I put a mezuzah on the garage entrance with a bracha. If not, I put up a mezuzah without a bracha. In other words, if the garage also serves as an entrance to my home and its entrance meets the requirements for an obligation to affix a mezuzah, I put one up with a bracha. If not, or if I do not necessarily enter the house through the garage—I park and go in through the regular entrance—then I do not make a bracha. That is regarding a garage. Let us take the example of a hotel owner, someone who owns a hotel, guesthouse, hostel, or the like. Seemingly, as we just discussed, the obligation of mezuzah rests on the occupant. Owners are not obligated to put mezuzahs on an apartment if they do not live in it. Just because I own an apartment does not mean I need to put up a mezuzah there. In fact, I cannot put one up if I do not actually live there. But a hotel owner accommodates people there, so some want to say that it is like a beis ha’otzar. What is the difference? In a storage room I put things; here I accommodate people. That is the argument of the Aruch Hashulchan: its status is that of a beis ha’otzar, and therefore there is an obligation to put up mezuzahs without a bracha. On the other hand, the Minchas Yitzchak argues that there is no such comparison. Accommodating people is not a beis ha’otzar. People are not put in storage rooms, and he does not agree that there is an obligation to put up a mezuzah here. So again, it is advisable to put one up, since important poskim say it is required—but without a bracha. That is the custom: to put up mezuzahs in hotels and the like without a bracha. Let us talk for a moment about shops. When we discuss shops,

46:44 Speaker 2 this is how it works. The Gemara speaks of shops that are exempt from a mezuzah, but the shops in the Gemara’s case were market stalls made to be dismantled. They were assembled and taken apart every day. Permanent shops, like those we have today, are different. Even if a person spends most of the day there, or the whole day, if he is there only during the day, strictly speaking it does not require a mezuzah. We put one up, but without a bracha. So on a shop where the owner spends the daytime hours but is not there at night, he puts up a mezuzah without a bracha. But if people are in the shop at night as well—even if that is in winter—and they also eat a meal there, at least one meal a day in the shop, then a mezuzah may be affixed with a bracha. Some poskim do indeed hold this way, and Chabad rabbis have ruled this way too. It is reported in the names of Rabbi Pazner[?] and Rabbi Yaroslavsky that they agree that in shops where a person stays at night as well and eats there, a mezuzah may be put up with a bracha. Fitting rooms in clothing stores are exempt from a mezuzah. An office or a workshop has stronger grounds for requiring a mezuzah. It is somewhat more than a shop. So again, if the person is there at night as well and eats there, he certainly needs to put up a mezuzah, and he can even do so with a bracha. But even if he is there only during the day, working at a craft has greater significance than being in a shop. A person is not in a shop for his own sake; he has no personal need to be there. It is simply his livelihood, so he sits there and sells things. But when someone has a workshop, perhaps there are grounds

48:39 Speaker 2 to say that there is a somewhat greater obligation. So at any rate, he should certainly put up a mezuzah there without a bracha. If people are there at night as well and eat there, then they put up a mezuzah with a bracha. What about a mobile structure? We are talking about a mobile structure such as a caravan or a mitzvah tank. If we look at the Rambam’s wording in Hilchos Brachos, chapter 11, the Rambam explains that mezuzah is not an obligation in the sense of a mitzvah one must actively undertake. There is no obligation to put up a mezuzah or to arrange for a situation in which I will need to put one up, as there is with tefillin: I have an obligation to put on tefillin. With mezuzah, if I have a house, I put up a mezuzah. But the Rambam says that if a person wants to live his entire life in a tent or on a ship, he is not obligated to put up a mezuzah. And that is indeed the halacha: cabins on a ship are exempt from a mezuzah. A person is on a ship and there are rooms there; they are exempt. But the question is this: from the Rambam’s wording, we understand that even if a person lives there permanently—he decides that this tent or this ship is his home—or if sailors are on the ship on a fairly permanent basis, it would seemingly still be exempt. Nevertheless, some poskim do not entirely agree. They argue that if a person lives there permanently and decides that this mobile structure is where he will live, then it does require a mezuzah. Whether it is a tent, a mobile structure, a ship, or the like, it does require a mezuzah. We can perhaps explain that according to the Rambam, what determines the law is the nature of the structure itself. If this structure is not intended for permanent residence, it

50:38 Speaker 2 Whether you decide to live there permanently is irrelevant. But you can look at it another way: no, the dwelling is determined by the person. The house is meant for the person, so if the person decides to live there permanently, it does become a permanent dwelling. That is the point of dispute. It is actually a very fundamental dispute about the obligation of mezuzah, which we may discuss in a more in-depth class. But since there is a dispute here, the practical ruling is as follows: For a mobile structure, a caravan, or the like, if it stays in one place for thirty days, the halachic authorities write that a mezuzah should be affixed there without a bracha. We do it without a bracha because of the Rambam’s position. So if someone lives in a caravan—or some people even live in an airplane; that is a thing too. An airplane is made of good, very well-insulated materials, so some people buy an old airplane and live in it. In a case like that, again, if you have decided that it is your home, the place where you live, affix a mezuzah without a bracha. The same goes for a caravan that stays in one place for thirty days: we affix a mezuzah without a bracha. I thought this might also provide an answer regarding mourners’ tents and the like. During COVID, for example, there were many places where people simply put up a tent to pray outdoors, and sometimes it was a tent with a proper doorway. So if it is intended for regular use, it needs a mezuzah. But again, once we are talking about a tent intended for prayers, it falls into the category of a shul, and a shul is exempt, so

52:25 Speaker 2 a mezuzah is affixed there without a bracha. I have also seen authorities write that even if it is a tent set up for a period of at least thirty days, you affix a mezuzah without a bracha. A hospital: if a person, G-d forbid, is in a hospital, then here too, seemingly, he may be there for more than thirty days. The halachic authorities write that a mezuzah should be affixed there without a bracha. In our situation in Israel, there are probably already mezuzahs in patients’ rooms. But in places where there really is no mezuzah in the patients’ rooms, someone who is in that hospital for more than thirty days would, in straightforward terms, be obligated to affix one. But since some disagree—because there is a question about prisons: Is a person who, G-d forbid, is in prison obligated to affix a mezuzah? This is a question that earlier halachic authorities already discussed. One reason to exempt a prison from mezuzah is that it is considered a dwelling against one’s will. A dwelling against one’s will is not considered a dwelling. When a person lives somewhere against his will, locked up there, it is not considered a dwelling. So some want to say that a hospital also has an element of being against one’s will. The person is not there by choice; he would rather not be there. He is there somewhat against his will, and there is therefore some basis for an exemption. So it is advisable to affix a mezuzah without a bracha. Since there is definitely some basis for exempting a hospital from mezuzah, we affix one there without a bracha. Now, classrooms in a Talmud Torah. I have seen some who want to say that if they also study there at night, we should affix a mezuzah with a bracha. I had reservations about that. You cannot say that, although we have already said

54:25 Speaker 2 that places where people also spend time at night and eat there—and they eat in Talmud Torah classrooms too—do have grounds for requiring a mezuzah with a bracha. But in practice, a Talmud Torah is like a beis midrash, and we do not affix a mezuzah in a beis midrash with a bracha. There is a dispute regarding a beis midrash, so since Torah is studied in these classrooms, they are like a beis midrash. We affix a mezuzah, but not with a bracha. However, if it is a school intended for secular studies, that is a different category. In a school where secular subjects are studied—even if the studies do not take place all day, and even if people do not stay there at night or eat there, but only study secular subjects for the sake of earning a living and the like, as the Alter Rebbe writes in Tanya that there are certain circumstances in which secular studies are permitted—the halachic authorities noted an important point. A place intended for study is not a shop. I cannot define it as a shop, or as a workshop, or anything like that. Study serves a person’s needs, just as a place where a person spends time, eats, sleeps, and so on does. Studying, too, develops a person and helps him advance. It is a real need, and therefore it is the kind of need that creates an obligation. It is considered one of a person’s needs, and it requires a mezuzah even with a bracha. One proof of this is that we said a shul is exempt from mezuzah, and some also exempt a beis midrash. Why? Because they are places of holiness. What does that tell us? That if not for their holiness, they would be obligated to have a mezuzah. If studying did not create an obligation for mezuzah, why would I need to invoke the fact that they are places of holiness? It is a place where people study, a place of study.

56:14 Speaker 2 Seemingly, that is not considered a dwelling and would not require a mezuzah. So what must we say? That studying is different. Studying is something a person needs; it builds him, helps him advance, and develops him. That is why it does require a mezuzah with a bracha. So a school where secular subjects are studied would seemingly need a mezuzah, even with a bracha. As for laundry rooms, some wanted to say—and this may have been more relevant in their day, when diapers soiled with waste and the like were washed there—that it was an undignified place. Generally, undignified places are exempt from mezuzah: toilets, bathrooms with showers, and so on. So there was room to say that a laundry room, too, was considered an undignified place and exempt from mezuzah. But today that is not exactly the case. Clothes are not soiled with waste; diapers and the like are not washed there. So in a laundry room that is usually clean, even though dirty clothes are there from time to time, we affix a mezuzah, but without a bracha. That is when it is only a laundry room, with clothes scattered about and so on. But it was also said in the name of Rabbi Levi Pevzner that if it is an orderly laundry room, where other things are kept as well—not just laundry, but perhaps a cabinet holding various things—and the laundry is also neatly arranged in baskets, then one may even recite a bracha when affixing a mezuzah in such a laundry room. Another category is what is called a beis shaar, an entrance hall. We discussed a beis shaar as a passageway, but sometimes the entrance hall leads to an undignified place. The entrance hall itself is fine. It is an ordinary place, with an obligation of mezuzah and everything else, but I view it as a means to something else. I do not treat it as a place in its own

58:21 Speaker 2 right; it leads me somewhere. Therefore, the obligation of mezuzah in an entrance hall depends on where it leads. If it is a corridor, a passageway, or the like, and it leads to a place that is obligated in mezuzah, I affix a mezuzah there with a bracha. If it leads to a place where a mezuzah is affixed without a bracha, I also affix one in the entrance hall without a bracha. If it leads to an undignified place, such as a toilet, I do not affix a mezuzah there at all. But sometimes—and this happens a lot with toilets—there is a sort of room before the toilets themselves, with sinks for washing hands. A person comes out of the toilet and washes his hands in this small room, this entrance hall. Even in such a case, where there is a sink for washing hands, since that is part of the use of the toilets—that is the normal practice: a person comes out of the toilet and washes his hands—there is still no obligation of mezuzah. Even if there is a sink or a row of sinks where people wash their hands, as is often the case, no mezuzah is required. But if there are other things there as well—cabinets or various other things—then although it leads to the toilet, the space itself has uses besides washing hands after using the toilet. Some want to say that even if I have no other sinks and also wash my hands there before eating, that entrance hall is already considered a place where I do need to affix a mezuzah. I would affix one there without a bracha. There are various other kinds of dwellings about which there is a question whether they are obligated in mezuzah or

1:00:02 Speaker 2 They do not require a mezuzah. So we’ll start with what’s called an achsadra. An achsadra is basically what we call a pergola today. As the Gemara says, an achsadra requires a mezuzah. The question is: why does it require one? We say it is considered a proper room. In other words, the achsadra the Gemara is talking about, which requires a mezuzah, is very convenient to use and is used regularly. It is a kind of pergola, but it is enclosed, with walls ten tefachim high. They do not reach the roof; otherwise, it would actually be a room. It may be open on the fourth side, but it still has a doorway frame on that side. An achsadra like that requires a mezuzah. So if I have that kind of enclosed pergola—enclosed on at least three sides, with a doorway frame—and people use it regularly, sitting and sometimes eating there and so on, then if its walls are ten tefachim high, it requires a mezuzah. We can learn from this about a balcony as well. Why would a balcony require a mezuzah? Nobody lives there. But we can compare it to the law of the pergola, the achsadra. If it is a covered balcony that is regularly used for eating, drinking, resting, and the like, then we would require a mezuzah there. Some maintain that one should even recite a blessing. In my opinion, and this is also how I understand the poskim, one does not recite a blessing when putting a mezuzah on a balcony unless it is actually built like a room. Some balconies are enclosed with shutters and so on; in that case, one can indeed recite a blessing. But on a standard, ordinary balcony,

1:02:16 Speaker 2 even if it has a roof overhead, we put up a mezuzah without a blessing. When we speak of a roof, it does not have to have been built for the balcony itself. Sometimes the roof is simply the balcony above mine: someone living above me also has a balcony, and its floor automatically serves as the roof of my balcony. If it protects from the sun and rain, I can consider mine a covered balcony and put up a mezuzah there. As for an uncovered balcony, let’s look at the issue this way. We’ll talk about a courtyard, because this is more closely related to the laws of courtyards. In general, does a courtyard require a mezuzah or not? A courtyard does require a mezuzah. The question discussed by the early poskim is why: what is the basis for the obligation? There are two views. Rambam maintains that a courtyard is a gatehouse, a kind of gatehouse. We discussed how a gatehouse is a passageway leading into a building. It might be a corridor or passageway, or even some kind of open structure that leads to a building. Rambam holds that a courtyard falls into this category too. It is a kind of gatehouse leading to a home, and that is why it requires a mezuzah. The Rosh, on the other hand, says no. A courtyard requires a mezuzah because of the uses made of it: it is used for household activities. Every home needs a courtyard; a person uses both the home and the courtyard. In their day, courtyards were used for very substantial activities. There might be an entire workshop there—a carpentry shop,

1:04:20 Speaker 2 or a place where people cut stone. All kinds of important work was done in that courtyard. So the Rosh says that this is why it requires a mezuzah: it is used for activities associated with a home. We can therefore see a practical difference regarding a backyard. A backyard is not an entrance; it is not a gatehouse, and one does not enter the home through it. On the contrary, one goes out to it from the home. According to Rambam, such a courtyard would not require a mezuzah. But according to the Rosh, if it is used regularly, it would require one. Another dispute among the poskim concerns the way courtyards are used nowadays. We said that, according to the Rosh, regular use is what makes a courtyard require a mezuzah. But he was speaking about how courtyards were used in their day, when substantial work was done there. A courtyard could serve as a sort of office or workshop. People would grind things there and so on. Those were significant enough uses to make the courtyard require a mezuzah. But are the ways we use a courtyard today—eating, drinking, resting there a little—also enough to require a mezuzah? That is indeed disputed. So in practice, with a backyard there is certainly a dispute between Rambam and the Rosh. Even if it is used regularly, that dispute remains, so we put up a mezuzah without a blessing. If it is not used at all, it is exempt from a mezuzah. Generally speaking, a courtyard where no activities take place is exempt. One just stores some things there because there is no room for them in the house. Seemingly, it does not require a mezuzah, although there is room to discuss whether it is considered a storeroom and so on. The bottom line is that

1:06:13 Speaker 2 we do not put up a mezuzah at the entrance to a courtyard with a blessing. That is both because of the dispute between Rambam and the Rosh and because of the dispute among the later poskim over whether the ways a courtyard is used today count as regular use that warrants a mezuzah. So in practice, to avoid the possibility of reciting a blessing in vain, we should put a mezuzah at the entrance to the courtyard without a blessing. It is worth knowing that, in situations where there is more reason to require a mezuzah, the best solution is to put a mezuzah on a doorway that definitely requires one and recite a blessing over it, while also putting mezuzahs on the courtyard entrance or other doorways whose status is in doubt. Then the blessing over the mezuzah that is definitely required can also cover those other, doubtful doorways. That is the preferred way to do it from the outset. The same applies to an uncovered balcony. According to Rambam, there is no reason for it to require a mezuzah. It is not a gatehouse or anything of the sort: I go out to it from the home; I do not enter the home through it. So according to Rambam, such a balcony is exempt. According to the Rosh, it depends on whether it is used regularly and what counts as regular use. Once again, this leaves us with a case of doubt, so I would put up a mezuzah there without a blessing. Now, even with a backyard—I recently saw a case like this—there may be an office in the courtyard. A person has a house with a courtyard, and in one corner of it there is an office. When I speak of a courtyard like that, even though it is a backyard, since there is

1:08:15 Speaker 2 An office, so the whole courtyard is considered an entryway to that office, and is therefore obligated in a mezuzah on that basis. So again, it depends: if the office is obligated in a mezuzah with a blessing, as we discussed in previous classes, then the courtyard is also obligated in a mezuzah with a blessing. If it’s an office where people are present only during the day and the like, where we don’t put up a mezuzah with a blessing, then I won’t put one up in the courtyard with a blessing either. The same applies to a roof. Generally, you’re not supposed to put a mezuzah there. It isn’t a place people use. Especially if there’s no railing: even if I sit there, even if I use the roof, I can’t put a mezuzah there if it has no railing, because I’m not allowed to be there. I’m not allowed on a roof without a railing, so what can I do? That would be a mitzvah performed through a transgression. I don’t put a mezuzah there. But if the roof has a railing and people do use it—there are cases like that, people design their roofs so they can sit there in the summer and enjoy themselves, or even store belongings there securely—then I would put a mezuzah at the entrance to the roof, without a blessing. That covers all these uses we’ve discussed: a balcony, a courtyard, and so on. Another thing is what’s called a gatehouse. When we speak about a gatehouse, we mean, as we said, a structure that serves as a passage and entrance to another structure. It serves as a passageway, a corridor, an entrance. We said that a gatehouse is obligated in a mezuzah by Torah law. If it meets the conditions of being four by four cubits and having a door and so on—which is almost never the case—then it is obligated in a mezuzah with a blessing. If not, then we put up

1:10:01 Speaker 2 a mezuzah there without a blessing. Now the question is: What about an elevator? Since we’ve been discussing gatehouses, broadly speaking, an elevator is actually a kind of gatehouse. There’s a structure, called a shaft, in which it goes up, taking you to apartments and all sorts of other places. That’s also a kind of gatehouse. So many halachic authorities say that because an elevator is mobile, it’s exempt from a mezuzah and there’s no need to put one there. On the other hand, authorities such as Chovas Hadar maintain that an elevator does require a mezuzah. He derives this from the case of a lul. The Gemara describes a lul, a kind of shaft through which stairs lead up to an upper floor, and says that a mezuzah is put there. He applies that to an elevator too. And here’s something interesting: I can’t say exactly when this happened, but for a long time there was no mezuzah at the elevator in 770. Then, after decades, the Rebbe suddenly looked at the elevator and asked, “Where’s the mezuzah?” That’s interesting, but since the Rebbe asked that, we have a ruling that an elevator requires a mezuzah. So we need to make sure to put one there. Now, how do you put up a mezuzah at an elevator, and where? At the entrance floor, on the doorway through which I enter the elevator, I put a mezuzah on the right side, even though the door opens outward. Nevertheless, I put it on the right side as I enter the elevator. On the other floors—first of all, the shaft in which the elevator goes up and down certainly doesn’t require a mezuzah. I’m not talking about that. It isn’t made for anyone to dwell there; it’s something temporary, so it doesn’t require a mezuzah. But at the doorway through which I exit onto each floor,

1:12:03 Speaker 2 I need to put a mezuzah at the entrance to that floor. In other words, when I come out of the elevator, I need to put a mezuzah on every floor, on the right side as I exit toward the stairwell. Again, if that stairwell is obligated in a mezuzah by Torah law, fully obligated, then I put up the mezuzah with a blessing. If not, I put it up without a blessing, following the usual rules for a gatehouse. A guard booth: there are booths like that for guards at schools and so on. Do they need a mezuzah? The halachic authorities write that if the booth meets the conditions required for a structure obligated in a mezuzah, there is reason to put one up without a blessing. If not—if it’s too small and so on—there’s no need to put up a mezuzah. Another very important case, also in the category of a gatehouse, is corridors of various kinds. Usually, their obligation comes from their function as a gatehouse, because they lead us into a room. So we need to know where to put mezuzahs in a corridor. Let’s start with the fact that there are several kinds of corridors. Suppose we’re talking about a corridor that leads into a room. I have a narrow corridor, and I enter a room through it. The corridor walls are narrow, and beyond them are the walls of the room, which extend around all four sides. Here, the walls reach a certain point, and that’s where the corridor begins. There’s a disagreement about this. The corridor itself would seemingly be a gatehouse. So my question about this corridor, the difficulty that arises,

1:14:12 Speaker 2 is that when I approach from outside and look down the corridor, I don’t see doorposts; I see only the ends of walls. And they aren’t just the ends of walls—they turn off to the sides. We spoke about wall ends that turn to the sides. So when I look from the corridor toward the room, which is the direction of entry and should therefore determine where the mezuzah is placed, I don’t see doorposts. I don’t see walls closing off the opening. I see walls that end at a certain point and turn to the sides. So I wouldn’t be obligated to put a mezuzah at the entrance to the large room, because it has no doorposts. But if I’m in the large room and look toward the corridor, I do see wall ends enclosing the opening, even though the walls continue beyond them. I do see those ends. So this is a matter of disagreement, between the Chazon Ish and Chovas Hadar. The Chazon Ish says no: since I don’t see doorposts when I look from the corridor toward the room, this is a room without doorposts, and I’m not obligated to put a mezuzah there. Chovas Hadar doesn’t see it that way. He says no: when I stand in the room, I see doorposts; I see the ends of the walls enclosing the opening, so the room does have doorposts. Therefore, I do put a mezuzah on the right side of the entrance to the room. In practice, that is indeed how we rule, and it also seems somewhat to be implied by the Alter Rebbe in section 55, in the laws of communal prayer and so on. That is what seems to be implied

1:16:00 Speaker 2 as well. More than that, I would say this reflects a broader disagreement about the obligation of mezuzah: is its underlying basis the house itself, or the person? The Chazon Ish looks at the direction of entry, which relates to the person. Chovas Hadar looks at the house. Perhaps in the next class, in a more in-depth discussion, we’ll talk about the basis for this. In practice, we do put mezuzahs in the corridor, and we put a mezuzah at the entrance to the large room, following the direction of travel from the corridor into the room. We put it up without a blessing, because this is disputed. According to Chovas Hadar, you can even put it up with a blessing. Someone who wants to rely on his opinion may do so and put up a mezuzah even with a blessing. But the issue is that, since this corridor is a gatehouse, I also need to put a mezuzah at the entrance to the corridor. At that entrance, I do have something resembling a doorway, with the ends of walls and so on. Of course, there’s no door there, so I won’t put up the mezuzah with a blessing. The final conclusion, then, is that I need to put a mezuzah at the entrance to the corridor and also at its far end—which is the entrance to the large room. That’s if I regard the corridor as a gatehouse. But we need to note a very interesting point that the halachic authorities have also drawn our attention to. When I look at a corridor, there’s a halachah we mentioned earlier: there is no required width for the doorposts of an opening. They can be very thin, or they can be very wide. For

1:17:55 Speaker 2 It says that the wall of the Heichal was six cubits thick; the doorposts at the entrance to the Heichal were six cubits wide. So if we follow that and say there is no minimum width for doorposts, we can look at this corridor in an entirely different way. We can view the corridor as the doorposts of the large room. It is really one wide doorway that ends at the far end of the corridor. Sorry, the whole thing is one doorway into the large room. If so, I cannot put up two mezuzos. That could also be a problem of bal tosif, adding to a mitzvah. I should put a mezuzah only at the entrance to the corridor, because that is really the entrance to the large room; its doorposts extend all the way to here. So I put a mezuzah only at the entrance to the corridor. If I also put one at the far end, I may run into a problem of bal tosif. This question is not really settled, and it makes things a bit complicated: what do we do in such a case? Put up one mezuzah or two? In my home, for example—and this may also be a solution here, as the halachic authorities write; Chovas Hadar says it too—if there is nevertheless a lintel, meaning I have a corridor but also some sort of lintel, perhaps a section of wall coming down from the ceiling and serving as a lintel, while the doorposts do not quite reach the ceiling, then I would indeed treat it fully as an entryway and put

1:19:45 Speaker 2 a mezuzah at the beginning of the corridor and at the end of the corridor, at the entrance to the large room. So in my opinion, that is the best solution. But as we said, a lintel does not have to be wide. Just like doorposts, it has no minimum width. So this is what I would do: take a narrow strip of wood, attach it to the ceiling, and treat it as a lintel on this side and on the other side. Then I can feel comfortable putting up mezuzos both at the entrance to the corridor and at the entrance to the large room. That is one way to handle it. But if the corridor is arranged so that you enter it from the room and it leads nowhere—it is a closed corridor, and there are such cases too—then again, it comes down to a disagreement between the Chazon Ish and the Chochmas Adam. How do I view it? According to the Chochmas Adam, there would be no obligation to put up a mezuzah here. The walls of the large room continue until they form the doorway, then turn outward and become the walls of the corridor. These are wall ends that turn to the sides, and according to the Chochmas Adam they are exempt from a mezuzah. But we said that even on wall ends that turn to the sides, we put up a mezuzah without a brachah. So in this arrangement, where I leave the large room and enter a closed corridor, I would put up a mezuzah without a brachah on the right-hand side as I leave the large room for the corridor. Since we have mentioned this situation, it is worth knowing that we can encounter something similar inside the home

1:21:53 Speaker 2 itself. Often, within a home, part of the ceiling is lower. Say the ceiling runs along here—it could be a dropped ceiling, an air-conditioning duct, or something similar—and then it ends at a certain point, rises, and continues farther on. The area under the lower ceiling is one room; beyond the point where the ceiling rises is another room. In such a case, looking from the lower-ceilinged room, I do not see a lintel. Looking from the higher-ceilinged room toward the lower ceiling, I do see a lintel. So again, this is the same disagreement between the Chazon Ish and the Chochmas Adam. If the direction of entry is from the room with the lower ceiling into the room with the higher ceiling, according to the Chazon Ish there is no obligation to put up a mezuzah here. According to the Chochmas Adam, since I can see the lowered section of ceiling—a lintel—when I am in the room I am entering, it does require a mezuzah. Paying attention to these details is very important.